History was made over the weekend as the Angus bull Netherton Eclipse Z036 ET sold for a UK breed record of £65,600 at the inaugural HW Netherton sale in Scotland.

When the sale concluded, auctioneers Harrison and Hetherington reported 24 bulls sold at a staggering average £8,791, through the online MartEye platform.

Commenting after the sale, a spokesperson for Harrison and Hetherington said: "The sale has exceeded all expectations, the dawning of a new era in Aberdeen Angus bull marketing. With a large crowd of prospective buyers in attendance as the clock counted down, the atmosphere was electric."

Record breaker

The record breaker was a choice lot, with the other lot, his full ET brother, being retained as a herd sire within the HW Netherton herd. Complete out-crosses to the UK market, this pair of embryo bulls are a result of a mating between the world renowned SAV Territory 7225 and SAV Emblynette 9811, which is a daughter of the great SAV Rainfall.

Eclipse went to auction with 10 traits in the breed's top 30% and was purchased in a two-way partnership between Angus House Farm in Romania and Barningham Angus in the UK.

Barningham Equaliser Z658, which sold for £9,800. / Mac Gregor Photography

Selling for the next best price of £9,800 was Barningham Equaliser Z658, part of the small consignment of bulls in the sale from Rob and Sarah Lowes.

Born in July 2023, this HW Mr Equilibrium son is out of the Rawburn Bannockburn T628 daughter, HW Erica Floss W210.

He catalogued with a nice balance of indices across terminal and replacement, as well as carrying a calving ease figure of +1.4. He sold to a herd in Powys, Wales.

Annie cow family

Trading at £8,600 was the May 2023-born HW Alphonso Z884. This high index bull comes from the high-performance Annie cow family and is sired by Rawburn Bannockburn T628.

He displayed some impressive numbers, which included a well-below average calving figure of +5.6, a gestation length of -3.1 and self-replacement index of +86. Having the last say on this lot was Messrs Hull from Essex.

Messrs Crosbie from Dumfries secured HW Ernie Z899 for a sum of £8,400. Born in June 2023, this Rawburn Bannockburn son goes back to the HW Evergreen cow family and offered buyers 13 traits in the breed’s top 30%.

Rawburn Bannockburn was the sire of the next-highest priced lot, HW Black Ghost Z851, at £8,300. Born in June 2023, this bull’s mother is the HW Fabulous R565 daughter HW Black Gold. He was knocked down to a herd in the Isle of Tiree.

Also selling at £8,300 was the 20-month-old Netherton Trailblazer Z031. Sired by HW Mr Equilibrium W202, Trailblazer’s mother is the HW Fabulous daughter Netherton Top Lass. Wrapping up this well-balanced bull was Messrs Logan from Hawick.

Pick up a copy of this week's Irish Farmers Journal to read all about it.